The present invention relates to container holders for vehicles, and in particular to a container holder integrated into an end of a vehicle armrest.
Consumers spend significant amounts of time in vehicles and as a result continue to demand innovative and non-obtrusive ways to retain drinking containers while traveling in vehicles. While many such container holders have been designed, they often require multiple and cumbersome movements to position the container holders in a use position. Further, the more complex the container holder mechanism, the more likely it is to experience mechanical failure while in service. A variety of container holders exist which can be stored in a compartment of an armrest with U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,184 being representative of such construction. For use of such container holders, typically the armrest cover must first be opened followed by movement of the container holder to a use position. This construction is somewhat difficult to incorporate in compact vehicles in which little space exists for wide armrests let alone those with storage areas sufficient for container holders. Thus, a container holder is desired which is compact and easy to position for use.